why library budget cuts are bad

Because then, when you take the day off work to take your car to the mechanic, and you diligently spend the first part of your wait writing at the coffee shop across the street, you still have another half hour to kill* before the library opens so you can go there to grade student work and pick up a new audio book.

So you go to Fashion 21, the apparent Forever 21 knockoff/outlet (all the clothes it carries are Forever 21 brand) on Figueroa. You buy a pair of blue pants that are a sort of a hybrid between jeans and slacks, but not as god-awful as that sounds. And a camel-colored sweater that was made from the softest synthetic rabbit ever. And a slouchy gray T-shirt and a blue-and-white baseball shirt. NONE of which you need. Except maybe the pants, because it’s hard for you to buy non-jeans, and this was a step in a grownup direction.

But in general, free books are better than not-free clothes. See what’s happening to our city?

*Note: This post is sort of a lie. I actually didn’t find out that the library didn’t open till 1:30 until after I shopped. Which makes me worse. But it’s still sad about library hours: I overheard one of the library pages say to another, “When I was getting coffee this morning, all these little kids were like, ‘Hey, Miss! Why aren’t you at the library, Miss?’” And the other page said, “Well? Did you tell them?”